Missed Opportunities
by psychoticbookgirl
Summary: Ian is told that his leukemia will kill him in a week. Well, that was blunt... He decides he'll fix the problem he made four years ago, while on holiday in Korea...
1. Chapter 1

Missed Opportunities

"Ian... I'm sorry," said the doctor solemnly. "But there is nothing more I can do. You have six days until..." He trailed off. I gulped.

"I understand." I whispered. It's not like I didn't see it coming; I'd known for nearly two years that they wouldn't be able to keep me alive forever. Ever since the accident, my body hadn't been working right. Natalie and I were caught in an explosion several years back, she came out nearly unscathed, but I was hurt terribly. From the outside, I looked the same. Other than a long scar down the side of my face, I was perfectly unhurt. But inside I was breaking. The radiation had given me leukemia, and the doctors had tried everything but with no prevail. My hair didn't even fall out from the chemotherapy. I was becoming no better, but no worse either. Two years of uneventful treatments and dull hospitalization. Occasionally Natalie would visit with tales of her travels and the latest clues and Lucian breakthroughs, but all I really cared about was news of the Cahills. I hadn't seen Amy since a month before the explosion, and I think that that was what hurt the worst. I wanted desperately to make amends, but couldn't in my condition. I hung on to the fact that she was alive, and that made me feel better.

I'd changed in those two years, away from the luxuries of Kabra mansion, away from the Clue Hunt, away from my sister. I'd also grown. At eighteen, I was more mature, and had begun to prefer some of the lesser things in life. Sure, I still enjoyed the life of the wealthy, but if it was necessary I would be able to live simply.

"Well... what can I do?" I asked. "Since we already know... how it will end... can I leave the hospital?"

"Son, it would probably be better for you to stay in the vacinity, but honestly there isn't much else we can do by keeping you here... maybe extend your life for two days, tops. So I suppose you should go and live your last week to the fullest. Have you wanted to do anything that you've been unable to do? Have you any missed opportunities or unfinished business? If so, there's no one stopping you from going and fixing whatever mess there may be."

_Missed opportunities.... _these words spoke to me. Amy. She was a missed opportunity. I could have joined her and Dan, but rather have followed my mother's wishes... now I was free to make amends.... or an even bigger mess.

But I only had six days to live, so any messes would be out of the way! I'd be carefree and in heaven!

Or burning in hell...

Yeah, it's bad and short, but it's just a... tester, kind of. The idea's been done before, I'm sure, but again, TESTER CHAPTER!! Meaning, if you guys LIKE it then I'll keep going (Ppht, as if I don't already have enough to deal with!) and if you hate it and think it's awful and it sucked (Which it did) then I'll end it.

End o' story.

Now REVIEW.


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you, doctor." I said quietly and stumbled outside into the downpour. Once outside, I ran all the way to a park and sat down on a bench to think. I rested my chin in my hands and finally let my tears mingle with the rain. I began to think about the last time I'd seen Amy. It was probably the best and the worst day of my life.

---

_Three years previously..._

_"Hello, Amy!" greeted Alistair. He helped her out of the car. It was Christmas Eve at the Kabra's mansion, and the road in front of the house was full of the cars and limosines of the Kabra's friends and family members. The dark sky was chilly and crisp, and it smelled of pine. The sprawling lawn was coated with a coat of snow from the previous day's storm, and the clouds blocking the stars in the evening air hinted that more snow was soon to come._

_"Uncle Alistair!" Dan cried in delight. He ran to his uncle and gave him a fist pound. Alistair walked with them inside to the ballroom._

_Amy was in awe of the large party room. It was the size of the entire floor of their apartment back home, and far more extravagently decorated. There were rich crimson draperies on the windows, and the entire room was trimmed in gold. Everywhere you looked there was gold; the moldings on the wall, the mural on the ceiling, the windows, the tables and chairs along the edge of the room. But despite all of this, Amy felt that the most beautiful things she could see were the people on the dance floor. The women dazzled in exquisite full ballgowns made with expensive fabrics like satin and silk. The men wore handsome tuxedoes with shiny shoes. _

_All of this extravagence intimidated Amy. She felt very plain against all of the loveliness. _

_Ian didn't think so, though. He was watching her from across the room. Something about her was intriguing, but he couldn't quite place what it was. Perhaps her natural beauty, or the humble air she had about her, or the fact that she was so very different-- in a good way-- from Ian. He was utterly confused by her, but he liked it. He decided to go and talk to her._

_---_

_Amy was very uncomfortable. She didn't see anyone she knew, (Dan and Alistair had disappeared, the Holts were nowhere in sight, and she didn't even _want_ to see Jonah.) or anyone her age, for that matter. There were mostly wealthy people ranging in age from twenty-five to eighty. No one who would be willing to take a poor fifteen-year-old girl under their wing. She decided to do the only thing that seemed smart-- sit under a table on the outskirts of the room and read Jane Austen._

_---_

_Drat, where is that girl? Ian thought in frustration. He scanned the opposite side of the room, where he'd last spotted her. It was hard to see, what with all of the guests blocking the view with their infernal ballgowns. But finally he spotted the rustle of a tablecloth that couldn't have been natural. It must be the girl, or her stupid brother, he thought. Well, here goes nothing!_

_---_

_"GAH!" Amy yelped when someone interrupted her reading. "Ian?" _

_"Yes. May I come in before someone sees me talking to a table?"_

_Amy was angry at how much she wanted to say yes. But she gave in anyway. "Oh, fine." _

_"Thank you." he squished in beside her, a bit too close for Amy's liking. Well, she LIKED being near him, but she hated the fact that she liked it. Confused? PBG is too._

_"Um... may I ask why exactly you choose to squeeze under this table with me?" Amy asked awkwardly. Her skirt was rather taking up the whole space, and it was very stuffy and cramped._

_"I was hoping to talk to you."_

_"Oh." Amy felt very stupid. "Well, then, shoot, I guess."_

_"The cave in Korea... you must know how terrible I feel about it, do you?"_

_"Um, no actually, seeing as you actually LEFT me and Dan in a CAVE to DIE. No food, no water, no ANYTHING."_

_"Er, yes. About that. I can't really say much other than... well, I was stupid. And I know that is a very, ah, _lame_ excuse, but I have no other to give you. And if it is of any consolence, I really am very sorry."_

_"Yeah, well 'sorry' doesn't cut it, Ian." Curious, Amy'd lost her stutter. _

_"I understand. If I were you I would feel the same way." There was a long, dark silence. "Would you like me to leave?" Ian asked awkwardly._

_"Yes," Amy said. Ian's heart sagged a bit. He began to get up when Amy put her hand on his arm. "Actually, no."_

_"Okay..." _

_She looked at him with her penetrating jade eyes. "Are you _really_ sorry for leaving me in a cave?" she asked quietly._

_"Yes, I really am, Amy!"_

_"Well... I know that I am really stupid for forgiving you, and don't think that I did this because you are Ian Kabra, I'm doing this because no matter how evil you are, and no matter how much you want to take over the world, you are still a person. And people deserve second chances. So... I forgive you." She buried her head in her skirt. "I am such an idiot."_

_"Not as big an idiot as me," _

_"True," Amy laughed. They were quiet again, but this time it wasn't a heavy silence. It was a light, nice silence. "What do you think will happen when someone finds us under here?"_

_"Let's hope they don't!" Ian chuckled. _

_"Maybe we should get up..."_

_"I suppose. People will accuse me of being antisocial."_

_"Yeah. I guess so." _

_Ian lifted a bit of the tablecloth and peeked out. "The coast is clear," he said. "It seems as though everyone is moving into the dining room. A perfect time to make our move."_

_"You sound like a spy," Amy laughed. But Ian looked at her in such a way that she sobered. "Oh. I get it. You... are a spy..."_

_"Well, a Lucian anyway, and that's close enough," he corrected, smiling wistfully as they discreetly got out from under the table._

_At seeing this smile, Amy's insides went into even more of a turmoil. She didn't know whether she should believe him or not. Sure, she had forgiven him, but that didn't mean that he could be trusted. She was torn in two. She yearned to be able to trust him, but when she remembered how she felt when he left her in a cave, she didn't want to let her guard down._

_What was worse was that she knew that the only smart thing to do would be to leave immediately. _

_But she didn't. She pushed the thoughts out of her brain and went to eat with all the others. _

_This proved to be a big mistake._

_---_

_Amy sat down at the table in the only open seat: between Ian and Natalie. Dan was sitting at another table with Alistair and a couple of teenaged boys who were laughing and joking. _

_"You look lovely, darling," said a woman who looked to be about sixty. _

_"Thank you." Amy replied, giving a slight smile._

_Ian engaged her in a conversation about something or another, and they had a lovely time for about an hour. The food was delicious, and the people seemed remotely nice, for Lucians anyway. She didn't notice Natalie whisper something to the woman who'd complimented her, and she didn't notice that same woman slip Natalie a vial a few moments later._

_She did notice when Natalie tried to pour the contents of that vial into her glass of punch._

_"What are you doing?!" Amy cried in outrage. "What is that?"_

_Natalie dropped the vial and asked, "What is what?" _

_"Oh, you know. That POISON that you were pouring into my drink! I can't believe this," She got up from her chair. The whole room was staring at her. "I can't believe that I gave you a second chance, I even started to trust you, and you... you... you POISONED MY DRINK!" She shook her head. "This was a mistake. I'm leaving." She looked at Dan, who rose and walked out of the room. "Goodbye." With that, she stormed out of the room._

_"Well, what did she expect? We're Lucians!" the older lady shrugged. _

_"That isn't the answer to everything," Ian muttered as he got up to follow her._

_---_

_"Amy, wait!" he cried as she stepped onto the bottom stair of the front steps._

_"What do you want, Ian? Haven't you had your fun? Toy with my emotions, and get rid of me. Well, you've gotten rid of me. I never want to see you again!" She began to walk away, when he caught her wrist._

_"Please! I had nothing to do with it! I didn't even know that they were planning this! I would have stopped it if I'd known!"_

_"Why should I believe you?" she shouted._

_"Because I am not lying!" he replied, just as loudly._

_"Of course you are." she fought back._

_"How can you know that?"_

_"You're a Lucian!" she screamed. She shook her arm free of his grasp and ran to the car as she was enveloped by the night, sobbing all the while._

_Ian sat on the step where she had stood. _

_"That isn't the answer to everything."_

_---_

A/N:

Well, that was depressing. It was really fun to write, though. Hope you liked it!

Garbage truck, curse your infernal beeping!


End file.
